Some companies are using the economic downturn as a reason to cut back and reduce the size of their work force. Others are seizing the opportunity to turn their gaze inward, improving their business processes and developing employee skills by methods such as sending them to Microsoft Project training courses.

Spend More, Not Less

As a business loses customers and sees the workload fall, employees become idle. The intuitive response is to lay off employees to meet the smaller workload, but what happens when the economy recovers? Business picks up, new employees have to be hired and trained. This makes the organization slow to respond to the upswing.

Other companies view the extra time employees have as a time to indulge in the training they've always meant to do but never seemed to have time for. Sending staff to Microsoft Project training courses can be the start of a new method of project management. Organizations overhaul organization and business process with little disruption to work flow. When the economy becomes strong, these businesses are already fully staffed and better trained than their competitors.

Proof Of The Benefits of Training

In November 2008, the Cranfield School of Management released a report called "Nurturing Talent". It contained stunning figures showing the value of using a lull in business to step up employee development efforts such as Microsoft Project training courses.

Half of the 1,189 British companies surveyed in the report found that trained workers were more likely to stay rather than find greener pastures elsewhere. One third found that training improved employee morale, a critical factor when public confidence is at its lowest point in many years. Do you think your business can't afford training? Nearly half the companies found that their training programs actually saved them money in the long run.

Strategic Planning Makes Strong Business

Business owners and department managers can't be so blinded by today's events that they lose sight of tomorrow. Although the economy of the UK and the world is in a bad state right now, recovery is inevitable. Where do you want your business to be when the next boom comes?

Investment in Microsoft Project training courses yields management and workers with a better understanding of project management and a new tool for organizing and optimizing tasks in your organization. It is a positive move that inspires confidence in employees and stockholders alike. This kind of constructive action builds your organization rather than tearing it down.

Layoffs are dramatic, but ultimately make sense only if your company is never going to recover the lost business. It is planning for failure and not surprisingly if you plan for failure, you fail. Implementing new training regimens is a plan for success and will lead to prosperity for your company in the future.